All Entries in the "Featured" Category

1 incumbent, 2 write-ins vie for Chester seats Whelan hopes to retain Select Board post as Dakin, Blair seek victory as write-ins
Over the last four years, Chester’s races for Select Board have gotten a bit more competitive than in years past, bringing in contenders for the open seats as more voters seek to get involved in government. But when Ben Whalen petitioned to be on the March 5 ballot to seek a fourth one-year seat on […]

Pisha rebukes Grafton board on Rt. 35 facts Grafton Administrator Kearns seeks 'date certain' on repairs
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a forceful letter, Chester Town Manager David Pisha has rebuked the Grafton Select Board for discussing Chester’s plans regarding repairs to Route 35 without calling the town first “to find out the facts.” “That is not how I would expect neighbors to behave,” he wrote in a […]

Massive ice sculpture crowns Popple Dungeon
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the late fall of each year, Peter Delaney erects a tall wooden framework for mounting a hose that’s fed by a spring up in the hills along Popple Dungeon Road in Chester. He caps the hose and then drills five small holes in the cap to […]

Grafton board chair ‘as private citizen’ starts drive to force Chester to repair Route 35
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Members of the Grafton Select Board are hoping to push the Chester Select Board to expedite repairs to Route 35 from the Williams River bridge to the Grafton line, after its chairman, Joe Pollio, mounted a petition drive that could possibly lead to court action. […]

Chester board picks ‘design/build’ for emergency services building Reviews no bid contract with Russell Construction in executive session
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board voted to go with a “design-build” process rather than traditional bidding for the proposed emergency services building, but not without objections by one member. “I believe in process and I don’t think we did our due diligence here,” said board member Heather Chase, […]

Fine winter weather for Chester Winter Carnival
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC After some years of either bitter or balmy temperatures, the Chester Winter Carnival went off this weekend under sunny skies and with comfortably cold thermometer readings. The ice rink was frozen solid as several of those playing broom hockey found when they fell. And there was even […]

Chester gets state grant for EV charging station Hopes to have Cobleigh site up by late summer
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester is one of nine towns and organizations to be awarded a state grant to install an electric vehicle charging station. Gov. Phil Scott announced the $400,000 in Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Grant Program awards last week. Town Administrative Assistant Julie Hance, who wrote the grant proposal for […]

Depot St. bridge construction set to begin Cold River Bridges signed to rebuild Cavendish span
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The long awaited work on the Depot Street bridge in Cavendish is right around the corner according to Town Manager Brendan McNamara, and the town is looking down the road at minimizing some of the problems it sees with having the span open again. McNamara told the […]

Derry Select Board to propose traffic ordinance, speed limits on Thompsonburg Road
By Bruce Frauman ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board has agreed to propose at its next regular meeting a town traffic ordinance and speed limits along Thompsonburg Road. With a new safety audit report from VTrans and a recent report from the town’s Traffic Safety Committee, the board met in a special session […]

Michigan authorities arrest man in GM threat
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC A 23-year-old Michigan man was arrested yesterday in connection with an online threat made against a Green Mountain High School student and against the school on Monday, according to Vermont State Police. Police have said that the threat made on Monday, Feb. 4 was traced to a person “in the […]

Chief Cloud confirms two GM threats are related No arrests made; 'persons of interest' questioned
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester Police Chief Rick Cloud said Thursday evening that the bomb threat called in to Green Mountain High School that morning is indeed related to the social media threat made to a student and the school on Monday. However, he did clarify that the caller […]

When a child’s text message of love is ominous A mother and son tell their story
By Cynthia Prairie © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Heidi Skinner was at her computer Thursday morning researching colleges for her 18-year-old daughter Camille when a text message came in from her 14-year-old son Isaiah. Besides Camille and Isaiah, Skinner has another child at GM, 12-year-old Hannah. It was 11:27 a.m. and Isaiah wrote, “I love […]

Lock down, evacuation at Green Mountain Parent, student tell of harrowing morning
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Here are links to the latest stories on the school lockdown. – When a child’s text message of love is ominous – Chief Cloud confirms two GM threats are related Green Mountain High School was evacuated early on Thursday after the school received a telephone […]

Derry hopes to keep VSP, even on limited basis
By Bruce Frauman ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont State Police commander Lt. Timothy Anthony French told the Londonderry Select Board on Monday, Feb. 4 that due to limited manpower, he can only offer about 12 hours of patrols per month in 2019 at a cost of $71.61 per hour. Board chair Jim Ameden said that […]

Weston board OKs funds for walk/ride study Of $6,000 portion, some is expected to come from businesses
By Bruce Frauman ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Select Board chair Denis Benson signed an agreement between the Town of Weston and the Windham Regional Commission for a scoping study despite his reservations that the town would be liable for a full $6,000, which is 20 percent of the full cost of the study. Planning […]

After 20 years of feeding kids, Jack Carroll to hang up his apron
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC When Jack Carroll, class of 1969, joined a walkout at Chester High School, marching to the Green to encourage the town to pass the bond to build Green Mountain High, he could scarcely imagine he would later spend 20 years running the school cafeteria in the proposed […]

Sunderland woman killed in Derry crash
© 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Sunderland woman was killed and a small child was seriously injured this afternoon when the woman’s car collided with a pickup truck on Rt. 11 near Little Pond Road in Londonderry. According to a Vermont State Police press release, just before 3 p.m. Darryl J. Davis, 58, was traveling west […]

O’Keefe seeks direction on Williams Dam Treasurer addresses changes to proposed budget
By Bruce Frauman ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The fate of the Williams Dam was the first topic brought up when Londonderry Town and Zoning Administrator Shane O’Keefe asked the Select Board on Jan. 21 to give him some guidance for the next six months to two years. Board member George Mora asked O’Keefe to help […]

Chester Board OKs sending budget to voters $4.059 million plan would add 1.25 cents to property tax rate
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC With little fanfare and one dissenting vote, the Chester Select Board approved sending the 2019 general fund budget, with a $49,767 increase over last year, to the voters on Monday, March 4. The $4.059 million budget requires a tax increase of 1.25 cents per hundred of assessed value […]

GM board member: CAES staff under ‘gag order’ Asst. principal in budget going to voters for approval
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a sometimes tense meeting of the Green Mountain Unified School board last Thursday night, one board member said he had been told by a number of Chester-Andover Elementary teachers that they were under a “gag order,” while the head of the board indicated she was close […]